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chunky

Speedway's Most-travelled Riders

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I did point out when I first listed Wal's teams that irish tracks like Belfast may not count but on the strength of oddfossengens posting I left them in. They are British Isles anyhow, hardly the same as counting Continental teams.

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I agree with your approach Chunky-also looking at the list brought back some good memories.Thanx for starting this thread.

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I would add that George Major rode for Norwich in Easter & Britannia Competitions in 1964. Both of these were Official S C B recognised Competitions under the National League banner of the day.

I agree that the poster who started it all should say what counts. :rolleyes::rolleyes: , Even if it robs "our Wal" of his "rightful place" at the top.

I would also add Crayford to Nigel Sparshott's list. He started in the Anglian League there.

Edited by star ghost

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I would add that George Major rode for Norwich in Easter & Britannia Competitions in 1964. Both of these were Official S C B recognised Competitions under the National League banner of the day.

I agree that the poster who started it all should say what counts. :rolleyes::rolleyes: , Even if it robs "our Wal" of his "rightful place" at the top

 

 

 

Dear old "Wandering Wal of the Raceways"...who gave him that nickname I wonder?

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I would add that George Major rode for Norwich in Easter & Britannia Competitions in 1964. Both of these were Official S C B recognised Competitions under the National League banner of the day.

I agree that the poster who started it all should say what counts. :rolleyes::rolleyes: , Even if it robs "our Wal" of his "rightful place" at the top.

I would also add Crayford to Nigel Sparshott's list. He started in the Anglian League there.

 

When I received further information about George Major, that's why I chose to include Norwich for him. Also (I don't know how nobody noticed), I inadvertantly left Bristol off of Wal Morton's tracks. That has been rectified, and now Wal proudly joins Moggo at the top of the list!

 

Thanks for the Nigel Sparshott amendment; don't know how that one slipped by me...:oops:

 

Steve

 

PS We'll give "our Wal" an honourable mention for appearing for an Irish team! ;)

Edited by chunky

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When I received further information about George Major, that's why I chose to include Norwich for him. Also (I don't know how nobody noticed), I inadvertantly left Bristol off of Wal Morton's tracks. That has been rectified, and now Wal proudly joins Moggo at the top of the list!

 

Thanks for the Nigel Sparshott amendment; don't know how that one slipped by me...:oops:

 

Steve

 

PS We'll give "our Wal" an honourable mention for appearing for an Irish team! ;)

 

 

 

When and for how long did Wal Morton ride for Bristol?

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When and for how long did Wal Morton ride for Bristol?

 

According to star ghost, he rode for Bristol in 1936. Before my time, I'm afraid...

 

Steve

Edited by chunky

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This does seem to have prompted some interesting discussion... The question is, do we include non-league teams?

Here's an updated list.

 

 

18 - WAL MORTON (Belfast, Bradford, Bradford (Odsal), Bristol, Coventry, Glasgow WC, Hackney, Harringay, Ipswich, Liverpool, Middlesbrough, Motherwell, Newcastle, Norwich, West Ham, West Ham Res, Weymouth, Wimbledon

 

16 - TONY FEATHERSTONE (Boston, Bradford, Crayford, Exeter, Hackney, King's Lynn, King's Lynn II, Leicester, Long Eaton, Milton Keynes, Newport, Peterborough, Poole, Scunthorpe, Sheffield, Wolves)

 

11 - MARK BURROWS (Belle Vue, Buxton, Cleveland, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Long Eaton, Middlesbrough, Scunthorpe, Sheffield, Stoke, Wimbledon)

 

I see that in Wal Morton's impressive list, 'West Ham Reserves' gets an mention..; and, for example, Tony Featherstone's list includes both King's Lynn and 'King's Lynn II'.

 

Well, in that case - you need to add the Stoke CL team (the Spitfires) to Buzz's list as he rode for them (in early 2003), as well as his stints with the senior Potters. :approve:

 

Call them 'Stoke II' and Buzz's total should be up to 12..!!

 

 

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According to star ghost, he rode for Bristol in 1936. Before my time, I'm afraid...

 

Steve

 

 

A possibility indeed, because Bristol was then a 'second division' side jointly run by senior clubs New Cross and Wimbledon. Wal Morton at Bristol is a new fact for me. Thanks.

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9 - STEVE JOHNSTON (Arena, Belle Vue, Coventry, Ipswich, Long Eaton, Oxford, Sheffield, Swindon, Wolves)

 

Great list!

 

When footy players transfer they often recall a team that was their favourite and add that they always look for their results on a saturday! I wonder who's scores johnno looks for!! ;)

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I see that in Wal Morton's impressive list, 'West Ham Reserves' gets an mention..; and, for example, Tony Featherstone's list includes both King's Lynn and 'King's Lynn II'.

 

Well, in that case - you need to add the Stoke CL team (the Spitfires) to Buzz's list as he rode for them (in early 2003), as well as his stints with the senior Potters. :approve:

 

Call them 'Stoke II' and Buzz's total should be up to 12..!!

 

Thanks, I'll update that now. As we said, the reserve teams etc were a separate entity, and the junior teams (King's Lynn II, Belle Vue Colts) and Conference League sides should be treated exactly the same.

 

Steve

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Thanks, I'll update that now. As we said, the reserve teams etc were a separate entity, and the junior teams (King's Lynn II, Belle Vue Colts) and Conference League sides should be treated exactly the same.

 

Steve

 

 

 

Let's not forget that Wal Morton's career spanned the years 1932-64 and that only the Canadian rider Mike Tams seems to have raced for a longer period - 1947-82 (35 seasons). Meanwhile, 59-year-old East Coast USA rider Gene Bonsignore starts his 31st season this summer.

 

Any more details on Wal at Bristol in 1936? The missing link in my chain-of-teams for him. Thanks.

Edited by speedyguy

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Also, looking through The Complete History of the British League, George is recorded as appearing once for Belle Vue (1971), once for Glasgow (1972) ...

Neither of these publications include guest appearances.

 

15 - GEORGE MAJOR(Aldershot, Belle Vue, Birmingham, Cradley, Doncaster, Glasgow, Leicester, Neath, Newcastle, Norwich, Oxford, Sheffield, St. Austell, Wolves, Yarmouth)

 

13 - NEIL COLLINS

12 - CHRIS JULIAN

12 - NIGEL SPARSHOTT

12 - KEN VALE

 

11 - MARK BURROWS (Belle Vue, Buxton, Cleveland, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Long Eaton, Middlesbrough, Scunthorpe, Sheffield, Stoke, Wimbledon)

 

Right.

If the solitary appearances for these two clubs 'count' in George Major's list, then so should Buzz's one appearance each for top league clubs Hull & Coventry in the mid-'90s.

They too feature in Oakesy's publications and, are NOT 'guest' appearances...!! :blink:

 

Added to the extra one identified earlier, this pushes Buzz's total up to 14 :approve:

 

Am I a man on a mission this morning or wot..??!! :wink:

 

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Right.

If the solitary appearances for these two clubs 'count' in George Major's list, then so should Buzz's one appearance each for top league clubs Hull & Coventry in the mid-'90s.

 

Absolutely! Unfortunately, I don't have the book.

 

Steve

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Absolutely! Unfortunately, I don't have the book.

 

Steve

 

 

I think more teams/clubs can be added to Wal Morton's list, if the guidelines on some previous Posts are followed.

 

The following clubs are among those included against his name - Norwich, West Ham, Ipswich and Wimbledon. Apart from Ipswich, the other three were in pre-war days (Norwich 1937-39, West Ham 1934, Wimbledon 1935-36. He was post-war at Ipswich 1951).

 

However, in his 32 year career, Morton made some return visits to these clubs. He was back at Norwich in 1948, then again from 1956-59. He returned for a season at West Ham in 1952. And Wal also had two seasons with Wimbledon, in 1949 and then again in 1951. Besides riding in Ipswich's first season he was back for them again in their 1959 Southern Area League season.

 

As these were obviously all separate contract deals, surely this validates them as separate clubs? If so, it adds six more clubs (teams) to his list, thus giving him a total of 24 teams/clubs that he appeared for. And if Chapelizod (RoI) are allowed (he was there in 1950) the total grows to 25. "Wandering Wal of the Raceways" indeed!

 

 

 

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